Man seeks $1.25m for op on 45kg scrotum

BIG OP: Wesley Warren Jr is trying raise over $1m for an operation to correct his scrotal elephantiasis.

A US man is trying to raise over NZ$1.25 million for surgery to correct a medical condition that has left with a 45 kilogram scrotum.

Wesley Warren Junior developed the rare condition, scrotal elephantiasis, about three years ago and has no medical insurance to get the necessary treatment.

He decided to go public, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, because he is desperate to try and raise the cash for the operation.

Mr Warren's scrotum is so large that he has trouble walking and using the bathroom and he says he suffers regular bouts of depression.

"It's not easy to get around," he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "It makes me stay in most of the time."

"I want to have real friends and a relationship with a woman," he told the paper. "But I'm not suicidal. I'm too strong for that."

Although he knew some people would laugh at his condition, Mr Warren decided to go public on the Howard Stern Show to raise awareness of his plight.

"I don't like being a freak, who would?" he said. "But I figured that the Stern show is listened to by millions of people and they might want to help me. I hope some millionaire or billionaire will want to help me."

His condition is rarely seen outside of the tropical areas of Africa and Asia and is usually caused by a mosquito-spread parasitic infection.

But Mr Warren said he had never travelled to tropical areas and believes the condition is down to an accident in 2008, when he caught his testicles with his leg while twisting in bed. The next day Mr Warren said his scrotum had grown to "the size of a soccer ball" and continued growing.